How Important Is Intelligence?
How important is intelligence? Obviously intelligence is important, but it’s how you use that intelligence that’s the defining factor. Just because you don’t get straight A’s doesn’t mean you aren’t smart. You may have a different form of intelligence, or learning style then your peers. You may be a genius, but if you put others down thinking that makes you better than them, you have proven that you are not smart at all. Here are some other ways that intelligence can shine through!
Book Smarts vs Intelligence.
Being intelligent or smart doesn’t mean you get straight A’s. Getting straight A’s only means you probably have a photographic memory, and resonate with the learning methods of your teacher. It doesn’t mean you are better than any of your classmates, or that you are going to be incredibly wealthy. It just means you find the mode of classroom teaching easy to understand and remember. There are many other ways that we learn, so if the classroom model is challenging for you, it doesn’t mean you are less intelligent. It just means you need to find the learning style that works for you!
Book smarts may mean you can easily remember things, get many degrees, and pontificate on your subject of knowledge, but it doesn’t mean you will be anymore successful in life than anyone else. For example: you may have the mathematical genius of Einstein, but if you don’t understand that you can’t cross the street when the light is red, you won’t live very long to prove it. There are many academics with genius IQ’s, but few of them are wealthy. There are also many athletes, doctors, lawyers, and performers that had ADHD and learning disabilities as children and became very successful in their fields. It wasn’t their high IQ’s or GPA’s that made the difference, it was their determination to succeed.
I will never forget my grade 9 math teacher. He was said to be a math genius, but he was not very good at sharing his knowledge with his students. I’m the first to admit that Math was not my strong suit. His frustration at my not understanding the concepts he was teaching left me doubting my intelligence. I was not alone in my experience with this teacher. He simply could not understand why we couldn’t understand. Consequently, his extraordinary math intelligence didn’t make him a good math teacher. My point is, just because you don’t learn the same way others do, doesn’t mean you are not smart.
The Theory of Multiple Intelligences
The Theory of Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner breaks intelligence down into 9 categories, and states that we are not born with everything we will ever know, but all learn in different ways. In this way, there is nothing we can’t learn once we find the way that works best for us. For a more detailed analysis I recommend checking out the article by Nord Anglia What are the nine types of intelligence that should be considered in all school curricula?
The 9 categories are:
- Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
- Linguistic Intelligence
- Interpersonal Intelligence
- Intrapersonal Intelligence
- Musical Intelligence
- Visual-Spatial Intelligence
- Bodily-Kinaesthetic Intelligence
- Naturalist Intelligence
- Existential Intelligence
I think we can all relate to some of these categories more than others. They also seem very self explanatory to me, so I won’t be expanding on them here. Some find math very relatable while others don’t. Some are great at learning languages, music, sports, nature, spiritual understanding, or relating with people, while other are not. All these are exceptional on their own, but even better when used together. If you’d like a more in-depth break down on each of these, please check out the article above. It’s a great source for understand this theory and how to use it to help kids embrace learning.
Some Interesting Quotes:
- “The sign of an intelligent people is their ability to control their emotions by the application of reason.” – Marya Mannes
- “When you know you’re smart you don’t have to talk about it.” – Trish Blackwell
- “Be as smart as you can, but remember that it is always better to be wise than to be smart.” – Alan Alda
- “It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.” – Albert Einstein
- “A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.” – Nelson Mandela
- “It is one thing to be clever and another to be wise.” – George R.R. Martin
- “Beautiful minds inspire others.” – Author Unknown
- “Speak to your children as if they are the wisest, kindest, most beautiful & magical human on earth. For what they believe is what they will become.” – Brooke Hampton
- “You can have all the degrees in the world but if you don’t have a hustler’s mentality, ambition, and common sense you’ll be lost.” – Kushandwizdom
From these quotes, it’s easy to see that there are a lot of different ideas about what intelligence or being smart means. These are just a small sampling of the billions of quotes there are out there about being smart. It’s defining what being smart means to you that matters. There are many brilliant scholars and philosophers that are extremely difficult to understand. There is not much value in their intelligence if they can’t articulate it to others in a meaningful way.
Are They Really That Smart?
I love the quote from Trish Blackwell that says, “When you know you’re smart you don’t have to talk about it.” I find that so true. When you are smart you don’t need to keep telling everyone about your GPA. To be honest, no one cares. The University or College administrators might, but other than that no one cares. Don’t base your feelings of self worth on your GPA or IQ tests. They are just numbers, and there will always be someone who is smarter than you. It’s the same in sports, music, acting, academics or any work field you may encounter. Just focus on being the best you can be in your chosen field, and let that be enough.
When you don’t combine your IQ with your street smarts, common sense, and emotional intelligence (EQ), you are cheating yourself and others. I believe this combination is what makes you wise. Incorporating emotional intelligence, or how your words are effecting others, with your natural intelligence is invaluable. Putting others down for not knowing what you know, doesn’t prove you are smart. It does the opposite. It shows your lack of confidence, as well as your lack of concern for the feelings of others.
Using Your Intelligence To Help Others.
Instead of putting others down for not knowing what you do, help them. That is a much better way to prove you are intelligent. In the end you don’t need to prove yourself to anyone, but if you have that desire; use it for good not evil. One of the benefits of helping others learn what you know is that you will learn more too. You will learn compassion, and new ways of looking at life.
The reality is that when you continually talk about how smart you are, you will turn other people off. Do you really want to push away the very people you are trying to impress? It’s ok to be proud of yourself for your achievements, but not at the expense of the feelings of others. Putting someone else down for not having the same talents as you is never ok. God created us all with different talents for His kingdom, and we are to embrace our differences as He does. The world needs all our varying degrees of intelligence and gifts. It would be a very boring world without them.
In Conclusion
As a homeschool parent, there is nothing better than seeing the light go on in my children’s eyes. When they finally get a new concept, it’s like watching fireworks exploding in the sky! My kids have different learning styles from each other, so finding the way that worked best for them has been an adventure! Once we found it, it was life changing for all of us. I encourage you to do the same. Find the learning style that works for you, and run with it. Don’t let your GPA or someone else’s standards stop you from being a life long lover of learning!
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